Crooked Hearts
by EowynBlack
Summary: *Updated and revised* Why is it that tragedy is the one thing that can pull people together? What is there when tragedy strikes that no one can see any other time?
1. Chapter One

**~Crooked Hearts~**

*by: Eowyn Black*

Chapter One

I unlocked the front door to my flat and stepped inside.  I set my broomstick against the wall before collapsing onto the sofa.  Practice had been twice as challenging as usual that day.  My mind was on other things besides quidditch.

~*~

Now, before we move on down the road to my self-discovery, I'd like to just fill you in on the basics:

The year was 2001 and my friends and I had graduated from Hogwarts a few years before.  Ron and Hermione had gotten jobs as Aurors with the Ministry within the first year after graduation.  I was offered a job as an Auror also, but turned it down.  I had other plans.

Me, I wanted to pursue a career as a jock.  As I was one throughout my seven years at Hogwarts, I wanted to continue that and join a professional quidditch team.  A year and a half after graduation, my dream became reality and I was chosen as seeker for the Montrose Magpies.  Ron, of course, thought I should try out for the Cannons, but the Magpies seemed more appealing to me.  Sirius, Remus, Ron, Hermione, and the rest of my friends backed me in my decision and always came to our games.

As you might already know, the Magpies hardly needed my help to win.  We had won every game except for one the first year I was seeker, but that was only because we had lost so many players to injuries.

A year after graduation, I asked Hermione to marry me.  We had gotten quite close at Hogwarts and she was the only one I could see myself with.  Now, don't go feeling sorry for me after you see this next part.  I fully understand why Hermione turned me down.  In fact, I wasn't surprised when she told me that she loved Ron and that he had already beaten me to it.  But, like a genuine friend, I was Best Man in their wedding and wished them the best of luck with their marriage.  But I still felt something towards Hermione.  It felt like I had lost a part of my body and would never get it back.

About a year after the wedding and halfway through the quidditch season, I moved north of London to a small wizarding community in the northern part of England.  I had to get away to start my own life and try to get Hermione out of my head.

At the time this all took place, I had been living on my own for a good year and hadn't been in contact with anyone from my Hogwarts years.  Little did I know my life was going to change drastically over the next few months.

~*~

As I mentioned before, my mind wasn't exactly on practice.  However, the main thing on my mind did involve quidditch.

The Magpies had just learned the previous day that our league was going global.  We would be participating in the first Global Quidditch League tournament.  In fact, we would be playing in the first game in the tournament.

I couldn't make up my mind whether I actually wanted to travel the globe to participate in this tournament.  Part of me wanted to stay put and put my dream on hold for a while.  After all, I had only moved into the area the year before and hadn't really had a chance to meet anyone.  The other part of me wanted me to go and fulfill my dream.

Once I collapsed onto the sofa, I noticed the Daily Prophet sitting on the kitchen table in the next room.  Gathering all the strength left from practice that day, I managed to get up from my very comfortable position and sad down roughly at the kitchen table.  As I took a glance at the front page of the paper, I saw a picture of seven starting quidditch players dressed in black and white robes.  The Daily Prophet had gotten wind of the new league.

**New Global Quidditch League Introduced**

The British and Ireland Quidditch League introduced just today that they will be participating in the newly formed Global Quidditch League.  The first match is to be held right in England at the home of the Magpies.  The Magpies were proud to announce that they will be playing their first match against Australia's Woollongong Warriors who have been quite popular in Australia and New Zealand over the past century.

The article went on to explain the date and time of the first match and the games that would be following.

I had made a huge mistake of tossing the paper back onto the table without looking at any other front page stories as I walked away from something that could have changed my life right then and there.  Now, I regret going back into the front room and turning on the telly to let my problems work themselves out.

What I didn't realize that day was that someone close to me made a terrible mistake that had cost them their life.

~*~


	2. Chapter Two

_Disclaimer:_ The characters (well, most of them…I might have a couple oc's here and there) in the story do not belong to me.  All credit goes to the all powerful and talented J.K. Rowling.

_Summary:_ Why is it that tragedy is the one thing that can pull people together?  What is there when tragedy strikes that no one can see any other time?

A/N: I am in the process of updating this story, along with editing the previous chapters to make it a little more concrete than before.  Please bear with me while I do this.  Thank you.

~*~

**~Crooked Hearts~**

*by: Eowyn Black*

Chapter Two

"Welcome to the first ever Global Quidditch League Tournament match!  Today's match is between Britain's own Montrose Magpies and Australia's Woollongong Warriors.  Hold on to your hats, folks.  You're in for an exciting game!  And here come the players!! First, from the Magpies: Wood, Mendosa, Gerando, Marsti, Capin, Hackenbury, and Potter!  Now, the Warriors: Surling, Clark, Precklen, Austin, Hurth, Larls, and Paulen!  The players take the field as the referee for today's game steps onto the pitch to start the game! Ref. Sampson releases the balls and the game begins!!"

Okay.  As you can see, the highlight of the day was the first Global Quidditch Tournament match that my team was participating in.  And as you can also see, I decided to tag along.  Let's face it:  What would I do without Quidditch?

Throughout my career with the Magpies, I had been neglecting the other things and people in my life.  Even though most of my close friends came to the matches, I usually didn't stick around long enough afterwards to talk or even say hi.  Occasionally, I would get an owl from one of them, but lately, I hadn't gotten any at all.

Now, back to the game.  The game had been going on for only about five minutes when a bludger took out one of our chasers, Amy Marsti.  Grant Thorpe, one of the reserve chasers, took her place.  Then, another ten minutes passes when another bludger took out Louis Gerando, another one of our chasers.  It was starting to look like that game we lost about a year prior.

I had been flying up above everyone else to keep a look out for the snitch and to keep out of the way.  Paulen, the Warriors' seeker seemed to have a developed a plane that involved staying on my tail, considering that whenever I flew more than five feet, Paulen would race to "catch up" and nearly crash into me.  After at least five times of this, I decided to try the Wronski Feint on him.  I had done it dozens of times during other matches and even more during our many practices.  But, for some reason, it didn't work that day.  Well, I guess, in a way, it did work.  It worked on me instead of Paulen.  Instead of Paulen slamming into the ground, I crashed head first into the field.  As I felt unconsciousness coming on, I heard a whistle blow and then there was darkness.

~*~

The next thing I knew, I was in the Hospital Tent in a bed near the back of the tent.  I could still hear the crowd roaring, so the game was still in play.  I glanced around the tent and saw Amy and Louis in the two beds beside mine.  Other than the three of us, there was no one else in the tent.

I lay back down onto the bed, banging my head on the bedpost in doing so.  Reaching up to apply pressure on the already forming bump on the back of my head, I realized that for the first time in my career, I wasn't able to finish a game.  The expression on my face was overcome with a wave of disappointment.

Not long afterwards, there was a bustle of feet outside the tent.  Two bodies emerged into the tent, shortly followed by the Mediwitch, though I couldn't see their faces to tell who they were.

"Out!  My patients need rest!  Out now!  Both of you!!" the Mediwitch said.  She reminded me of Madam Pomfrey in a way.

"We just want to talk to Harry.  It'll only be a few minutes."

"Two minutes.  Mr. Potter needs his rest," the Mediwitch replied before she bustled out of the tent again.

As soon as she said this, the two came closer to where I was, and I then could clearly recognize Sirius and Remus.  I quickly pulled myself into a sitting position, wiped off my disappointed expression, and murmured a hello.

Sirius and Remus pulled up chairs and sat down.

"You want to talk about anything?" asked Remus.

I shook my head and turned the other way.

"Harry, I know you're not going to like hearing this, but if there's anything wrong, _anything_, you have to tell us.  I'm your family, for heaven's sake!" Sirius said.

"Just in case you haven't noticed, Sirius, I am old enough to know what to tell people.  Or haven't you notices that I've made a new life for myself, in which both of you aren't in the picture," I yelled.  "And no, you are not my family!  My family's dead!!"

Remus started to say something, but Sirius shook his head.

The Mediwitch hurried over to see what the problem was.  "I must insist that you leave now.  Mr. Potter is upset already.  Please leave before I have to call security."

At this, Sirius and Remus got up and started to leave, but not before I could see the hurt look on their faces.

Seeing that, I started to feel guilty about what I had said.  Through blood, Sirius wasn't my family, but deep down inside, I knew that he was.

Just before leaving the tent, Sirius looked back at me.  With a look of disappointment, he lifted the flap of the tent and disappeared from my sight.

Not long after Remus and Sirius left, there was a large roar from the crowd.  The snitch had been caught and the match was over.

Slowly, the roar of the crowd died down and soon afterwards, my entire team came into the Hospital Tent to see how Amy, Louis, and I were doing.  What surprised me was that they all had smiles on their faces.  It turned out that the reserve seeker, whom I didn't really like because of a prior acquaintance with him, had caught the snitch for our team.

Bet you can't guess who the seeker was.  Draco Malfoy.  How he got onto the team as the reserve seeker is beyond me.  I never really talked to him during practice and I usually left before anyone else on the team.  All I had really heard about him was that he had gone against his father and turned over to the light side.

Something that I never thought would happen happened when the rest of the team, including Amy and Louis, left the tent.  That is, everyone except Malfoy.  He waited by the opening of the tent until the Mediwitch let me leave.

As I left the tent, Malfoy followed me out.

"Is there something you want, Malfoy?"

"Actually, I wanted to talk to you, but I guess Black and Lupin beat me to it."

"What are you talking about?"

"They did talk to you, right?"

"Yes, they did, but what does that have to do with anything?"

"Well, I was just wondering, figuring that you and Weasley were so close, if you were going to come into London tomorrow for the funeral."

I stopped right there in my tracks.  "What funeral?"

"Weasley's funeral.  It's scheduled for tomorrow."

It took me a while for that to sink in.  When it finally did, I grabbed my Firebolt and raced away from the quidditch pitch and got back to my flat as soon as I could.

As soon as I got inside, I tore my flat apart to try and find the Daily Prophets from the past couple of weeks.  There had to be something in at least one of them if Malfoy was telling the truth.

'Maybe Malfoy was just being his old, curt self,' I tried to convince myself.  'Ron isn't dead.  He can't be!'  After five minutes of tearing my flat apart, I had accumulated Daily Prophets from the past two weeks.

Searching vigorously through them at the kitchen table, I tossed the ones aside that I knew for sure that I had read through fully, leaving a small pile of Daily Prophets in front of me.

I grabbed the paper on top and frantically flipped through, page by page, searching for a story that matched the description.  Nothing.  I tossed it aside with the other ones and moved on to the next paper.

As I got down to the last two papers, I kept one telling myself, 'Ron isn't dead; what was I thinking?'

The second to last paper also had nothing.  Lifting up the last paper on the table with a bundle of hope, I scanned the front page.  It was the paper that announced the new quidditch league.

Checking the rest of the front page, my eyes snapped to the bottom right corner of the paper, where a short, undetailed story was.  The title:  Ministry Auror Dead.  Quickly reading the article, I realized that Malfoy was right.

~*~

The next day, I sat at home, staring out the window.  I couldn't go into London for the funeral.  I just couldn't.

I don't know how long I had been sitting there, but sometime in the afternoon, there was a knock on my flat door.  The first time, I didn't even notice that someone was at the door.  Unfortunately for me at the time, they were persistent and kept on knocking.

Coming out of my trance, I walked over to the door and looked out the peep hole.  Surprise, surprise.  It was Sirius.

I opened the door and stared at him.  I moved out of the way to let him inside.  As he came in, he looked at me with a funny glance.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Of course.  Why wouldn't I be?"

"Draco told me he spilled the beans yesterday after the match.  Remus and I were going to tell you yesterday in the Hospital Tent, but you were acting like you wouldn't be able to take the news."

"Oh?"

"I'm serious, Harry!"

"Of course you are."

"Now, don't start that again.  That's how we got into that argument last year."

The argument.  I remember it like it only happened yesterday.  Sirius and I were trying to have a civil conversation when Sirius brought up that I was always so disrespectful of him.  I kept on telling him that he needed to respect me and my wishes if he wanted respect from me, and so on.  I was pushed out of the door of Sirius's flat and told not to come back until I had learned to respect my elders.  That only lasted seven and a half months before Sirius couldn't stand it anymore.

Thinking about that, I just stared at him, squinting.

"Now, don't do that.  I hate it when you do that."

So I stopped.  Instead of trying to avoid looking at him, I decided to let him talk while I cleaned up the kitchen, which was still stricken with Daily Prophets.

As I was walking into the kitchen, Sirius said, "Harry, I'm talking to you.  Don't walk away from me when I'm talking."

"I'm listening.  Keep talking."

"Harry.  Will you just look at me for a minute?"

"Why?  I can listen just fine when I'm doing something that doesn't take much talent," I said, continuing my cleaning.

"Because I said…What were you doing in here?" Sirius asked once he saw the Daily Prophets askew in the kitchen.

I quickly put them all in a pile, not intentionally leaving the paper with the article about Ron on top of the pile.

Placing the pile on the kitchen table and going over to the sink to "wash the dishes," I left Sirius standing in the doorway.  Sirius looked at the pile curiously before saying, "You didn't believe Draco when he told you yesterday, did you?"

'How does he always do that?'  I whipped around with a wet dishrag in my hand, spraying water everywhere.

"What makes you say that?"

Wiping the water off his cloak, Sirius looked at me with compassion.  "I can tell."

I absolutely hate it when he says that.  Not only because he means it, but because he always gives me this creepy look, almost like he can see right through me.

"Can you?" I said.

"I know this is hard on you.  That's the reason why I'm here right now.  Remus and I went to the funeral this morning and I can tell you this much.  Hermione could've used your shoulder.  And you hers."

"She didn't want me there."

"How would you have known?  You haven't seen her since…well, before Ron's accident."

"I know both of them better than that.  Hermione wouldn't have wanted me there because she wouldn't have wanted me to see her breaking down or anything."

"You don't know that for sure, though, do you?"

"Yes, I do."

Sirius gave me a strange look.

"I know because I overheard her and Ron talking in our seventh year at Hogwarts.  She said that if I ever got killed, she wouldn't have wanted Ron to go with her to the funeral because she didn't want him to see her all broken up over me or she just wouldn't go at all."

Sirius looked down at the ground, not knowing what to say.

"That's why I didn't go."

I started walking out of the kitchen, leaving Sirius behind.  As I got to the doorway, I turned around and mentioned, "You can let yourself out," and left him to ponder.

~*~

After a vigorous walk to blow off the steam and right before it started to rain lightly, I returned to my flat.  I was glad Sirius had taken the hint and left me alone for once.

I quickly made a snack for myself and flung myself onto the sofa for a good movie on the telly.  I pushed everything in my head to the back of my mind and told myself that I would deal with it all later.

Turning on the telly to look for a good show, there was a knock on the door.  I went over and looked out the peep hole.  There was no one there.  I opened up the door only to find it now pouring buckets.

But, before I could start to close the door, a figure stepped out of the shadows, dripping from head to toe.

"Hermione?"  
~*~


	3. Chapter Three

_Disclaimer:_ The characters (well, most of them…I might have a couple oc's here and there) in the story do not belong to me.  All credit goes to the all powerful and talented J.K. Rowling.

_Summary:_ Why is it that tragedy is the one thing that can pull people together?  What is there when tragedy strikes that no one can see any other time?

A/N: I am in the process of updating this story, along with editing the previous chapters to make it a little more concrete than before.  Please bear with me while I do this.  Thank you.

~*~

**~Crooked Hearts~**

*by: Eowyn Black*

Chapter Three

"Hermione?" I said again.  She looked as though she had been crying.  A lot.

I led her inside and sat her down at the kitchen table.

"Do you want something to drink?  Tea?  Or something to eat?" I asked.

Hermione just nodded, wiping the tears from her eyes.

I moved around the kitchen at what seemed like top speed.  In moments, I had found some cookies and a couple dozen slices of bread.  I put them on the table in front of Hermione, who still had said nothing.  I went back to the sink and filled the tea kettle and set it on the stove.

As I moved back to the table and sat down across from Hermione, she finally started to talk.

"Oh, Harry!  It was horrible," she said between sobs.  I quickly got up from my chair and moved over to the chair next to her to comfort her.

"I was at home when a Ministry of Magic official came to the door with a note from the Department of Mysteries.  It said…it said that Ron had…he had…oh, Harry…he walked right into a group of Voldemort's followers and didn't even realize it.  The note said that witnesses say he didn't even have a chance to reach for his wand before they killed him."  At this point, Hermione couldn't speak anymore because she was crying hysterically.

Over on the stove, the kettle started to whistle.  Not wanting to leave Hermione's side, I grabbed my wand from the table and summoned two cups, two packets of herbal tea, and the tea kettle.  I poured the hot water into the two cups and set the kettle on the table.  Quickly summoning a couple spoons and the sugar, I poured the packets of tea into the cups and stirred, adding a couple spoonfuls of sugar to my one cup.

After a few sips of tea, Hermione seemed to calm down a considerable amount.

"And the worst part…" Hermione said with a shudder in her voice, "…is that when I received the call from the Ministry official, I was planning on telling Ron some important news that night when he got home from work.  I was trying to figure out how to tell him."

I obviously had no idea what she was talking about as I hadn't been in contact with her or Ron for quite some time.

I guess she saw the confused look on my face because she started to explain.  "I had received an owl from my doctor that I have been seeing recently and I had to read it through a couple of times to make sure I had read it correctly.  It said that I'm…"  Another sob.  "…It said that I'm pregnant."

Pregnant.  There's not much anyone can say to that, is there?

"And Ron didn't even have a chance to know.  How am I going to live like this the rest of my life, Harry?  How?"

After a few minutes of silence, Hermione got up and left the table, walked into the front room to my flat, and collapsed onto the sofa.  She put her head into her hands and silently sobbed into them.

~*~

A couple of hours later, Hermione was sound asleep in one of my spare bedrooms.  She had cried herself to sleep on the sofa and I had carried her into the bedroom.

I had come back into the kitchen to clean up from before.

Right before I was going to banish the now clean dishes back to their proper places, I heard a voice from the fireplace behind me.

"Potter?"

I turned around to see Oliver Wood's face dancing in the emerald green flames.

It was then that I realized there had been a meeting that the Magpie's coach, Roncola, had called for that afternoon.

"Oliver!  I'm sorry I didn't make it to the meeting.  I forgot all about it."

"I was just making sure everything was alright with you.  I figured that you would've gone to London this morning for the funeral, but there was a rumor going around at the meeting that you didn't show up."

"Please give my apologies to Roncola," I said, changing the subject right away.  "Can you also please tell him that I'm going to take a few personal days?"

"Roncola's not going to like this, Harry.  You know how he gets."

"Please, Oliver?  Just tell him that I have a personal matter to clear up."

"Alright.  You better watch out when you get back.  Roncola's not going to like the fact that his starting seeker is going to miss some of the biggest matches in the tournament coming up in the next few days."

"I'm sure you won't miss me," I said, almost pleading with Oliver.

"Yeah," Oliver said, shaking his head, and he disappeared with a pop.

I quickly picked up the remaining dishes on the table and counter and put them in their proper place before I sank onto the sofa and propped up my head with my hands to think.

~*~

I must have fallen asleep on the sofa that night because I woke up the next morning to Hermione coming out into the kitchen to make coffee.

When she realized that I was up and saw what she was doing, she looked appalled by it.

"Sorry.  I always got up to make coffee in the morning when Ron…"

"It's okay."  I walked into the kitchen rubbing my eyes.  "Did you sleep okay?"

Hermione nodded before she reluctantly sat down at the table with a cup of steaming coffee in her hands.

Getting a cup of coffee myself, I leaned up against the counter and took a sip. 'Mmmm!  Much better than my own!' I thought to myself and immediately felt myself wake up.

"I was wondering," Hermione asked, "if I could stay here for a few days."

"Sure."

"Then, before I forget, do you mind if I borrow Hedwig to write to my mum?  The last time I saw here was yesterday morning, but there's not down that she'll start to get worried about me."

"You can borrow Monteal."

"Monteal?  What happened to Hedwig?"

"About five months ago, she went out to hunt.  She hasn't turned up since.  I haven't the slightest clue as to what's happened to her."

Hermione looked taken back.  "Oh."

"I got Monteal three and a half months ago.  He's in my bedroom when you need him.  I'm going to go run some errands.  I'll probably be back in a couple of hours."

"Okay.  Thanks, Harry."

"Sure thing," I replied and I walked over to the fireplace.  I grabbed a handful of floo powder and flooed to Diagon Alley.

~*~

In an hour and a half's time, I returned to my flat and set down all the things I had bought on the table.  I had bought some more food, as my cupboards were getting quite bare, and most of it was health food, considering that Hermione would be staying with me for a few days.  One of the last times that I had eaten with her, she had scolded me about constantly eating junk food.  I also had bought some movies from the video store just outside Diagon Alley.  I had picked out a couple titles that I had remembered Hermione talking about when we were still at Hogwarts.

After I put the food in the cupboards, I wandered into the front room where I found Hermione watching the telly.

She looked up when I entered the room.  "I use to watch this show with Mum when I was younger."  She pointed to the telly and I saw that she was watching the same show that I vaguely remembered my aunt Petunia watching years ago.  It was the _I Love Lucy show._

"Right.  So, I bought some movies I thought you might like," I said, showing her the movies that I had brought into the front room with me.

Just then, I thought I heard a click, like a front door or a window opening, but Hermione didn't seem to notice anything so I just dismissed the idea.

I set the movies down on the sofa next to her and went back into the kitchen to talk to Sirius and apologize for what I said the other day.

I grabbed some powder from the mantle and threw it into the flames.  "Black Flat!"

After lots of turning and a large amount of dizziness, I saw the kitchen to Sirius's flat.

"Sirius?" I called.

Silence.  Then there was a scuffle of feet on the stairs leading down into the kitchen.

"Harry?  Is everything alright?"

"Sirius, I just wanted to apologize for yesterday.  It was uncalled for."

"It's alright," Sirius replied.  He knelt down to be level with me.  "I understand now why you didn't go."

At that moment, I heard a loud crash on the floor, followed by footsteps leading into the kitchen.  I turned my head to see what was going on, but all I could see was the inside of the fireplace.

"Harry?  What's wrong?" Sirius asked.

"I…"  The next moment, I felt a sharp jab at the side of my head.  Somewhere in the distance, I heard Sirius calling my name, but then it abruptly stopped as I felt myself being dragged out of the fireplace.

~*~


	4. Chapter Four

_Disclaimer:_ The characters (well, most of them…I might have a couple oc's here and there) in the story do not belong to me.  All credit goes to the all powerful and talented J.K. Rowling.

_Summary:_ Why is it that tragedy is the one thing that can pull people together?  What is there when tragedy strikes that no one can see any other time?

A/N: I am in the process of updating this story, along with editing the previous chapters to make it a little more concrete than before.  Please bear with me while I do this.  Thank you.

These are for the previous three chapters:

_Kim13_:  Sorry…I couldn't resist!

_SweetPnut731_:  Who said you could use my computer?  This is a warning little sister!

_Esperanza1_:  Thanks…I haven't seen to many first person stories, so I decided to try out something new.

_Katie_:  Thanks…more to come soon!

_Ameyer_:  If you have even bothered to read the fifth book, you'll see that Harry is in fact a little more on the touchy side now…Better watch out Meyer, school's starting in a couple of weeks…more chances for me to bug you…hehe!!

_MelloJen85_:  Hey Jenny!!!  Again, Harry's changed quite a bit since the fourth book…

_AngelDusterBuster_:  I'm very sorry you didn't get to see this sooner, like I said you would.  My AOL was acting funny Sunday night and I wanted to post the chapter as soon as I could because I don't know when I would have the next chance to.  Sorry again.

_Wandering Shadow_:  Thanks for reviewing…enjoy this next chapter.

Another thing before you go on to the story.  I am starting up an e-mail notification system.  If you would like to be e-mailed when I post again, review and leave your e-mail message for me.  Thanks!

~*~

**~Crooked Hearts~**

*by: Eowyn Black*

Chapter Four

The next thing I know is I'm lying down on the sofa in the front room, sporting a large bump on the side of my head.  I looked around at my surroundings but found no one else in the room.

I heard a couple of voices from inside the kitchen.  I slowly pulled myself into a sitting position, rubbed the side of my head gently as though not to put myself into anymore pain than I was already in, and stood up.

I started to make my way to the kitchen when a hoot distracted me.  I glanced over to where the hoot came from and it gave me a start.  There was Hedwig, perched on the windowsill.

The people in the kitchen must have known that I was up and moving around, as they came into the front room to find me staring at Hedwig.

"Harry?  Are you okay?" asked one voice.

I turned around to see who the person was.  It was Sirius.  Hermione was right next to him.

"Do you remember what happened?" Sirius asked when he didn't get an answer to the first question.

"I was talking to you, and I heard a crash coming from in here."

"That was me.  I was looking at the movies you brought in and when I looked up, Hedwig was outside on the windowsill.  I guess I dropped the movies when I saw her," Hermione explained.

"Then," I thought back.  I reached up to the large bump on the side of my head.

"That was me, too," Hermione stated.  "Oh, Harry!  I'm sorry!  When I saw Hedwig there, I ran into the kitchen to tell you that she was back and I accidentally ran into one of the kitchen chairs and knocked it over."

"Are you sure you're alright?" Sirius asked again.

I nodded before walking over to where Hedwig was perched.  I stuck out my hand to stroke her and she gave me a peck on the finger.

"She looks like she's hurt," Hermione pointed out.

I glanced down and saw that some of her down feathers were sticking out at an odd angle.

"What happened, girl?" I asked her softly.

"I'll take her to Magical Menagerie if you want me to.  I have to go to Diagon Alley to pick up some things later anyways," Sirius mentioned.

"No, that's okay.  I'll take her myself," I said, still stunned about Hedwig.  I walked off in the direction of the kitchen and felt myself stagger.

"Harry, you're still hurt.  Go lie down.  I'll take Hedwig to Diagon Alley," I heard Hermione say as the room started to sway.

"Harry?" Sirius said, rushing forward to help.

I grabbed the arm of the sofa to keep steady.  All of a sudden, my scar seared in pain.  I slapped my hand to my forehead and sank back into the sofa.

"Harry? What's wrong?" Hermione asked, her voice full of concern.

"Scar…" was the only word I could manage to get out through the pain.  I gritted my teeth and closed my eyes as though to block out the pain.  It had to have been the worst my scar had hurt in over three years.

~*~

As Dumbledore had told me a couple days after that fateful night, Voldemort had been defeated.  The last year at Hogwarts had probably been the quietest year for me.  Somehow, I had met up with Voldemort the second week of the term and we had dueled for what seemed like forever.  Voldemort shot the killing curse at me, but something weird happened.  It was almost as if there was some kind of force field around me because when the curse was inches away from me, it deflected back towards Voldemort, who was hit and started to scream in agony.  Then, there was a powerful black that knocked me unconscious, but not before I saw Voldemort's image flicker, and then disappear.  When I woke up, I was in the Hospital Wing and it was two days later when Dumbledore came in to tell me that Voldemort was destroyed.  He was gone forever.

I had even received an Order of Merlin, First Class, for it.

However, I had been experiencing a tingling pain in my scar for a few seconds every now and then.  I had always thought it was some kind of after effects because it was a cursed scar, but I hadn't really thought about it really all that much until this time.

~*~

As the pain subsided, I opened my eyes to see both Hermione and Sirius looking very worried.

"Harry, I think you should really tell Dumbledore about this," Hermione said, almost ecstatic with worry.

"No.  I'm not a child anymore.  I DON'T have to go crying to Dumbledore every time I get a bump or bruise!" I yelled.  "I'm an adult.  I can take care of myself."

Hermione looked as though she was about to cry.

"Harry, I'm sure Hermione just wants to make sure you were going to be okay," Sirius said.

"I'm sorry for blowing up at you like that, Hermione."

"I just don't want anything to happen to you, too!" Hermione cried as she practically ran over to me and crushed me in a hug.

I looked over at Sirius over her shoulder and he gave me a look that said, "I told you so."

~*~

That night, Sirius stayed over at my flat "just to make sure you're okay," even though I told him that I was perfectly fine.

Hermione had just turned in for the night and Sirius and I were seated at the kitchen table.

"That had to have been the scariest moment in my life, apart from the time after the Third Task in your fourth year at Hogwarts.  I remember seeing you lying on the grass, not moving at all.  The only way I knew you were alive was when Dumbledore turned you over.  You don't know how happy I was when I saw you move by yourself," Sirius explained.  "Back there with the fireplace, well, let's just say I never want to go through that again, even though nothing really bad actually happened."

I just looked around, avoiding Sirius's gaze.

"And then the whole deal with your scar.  Which reminds me, how long has it been bothering you?"

"It's not," I lied.

Sirius just gave me the eye.

"Alright, alright.  It's been bothering me every now and then but not nearly as bad as it did today."

Sirius looked slightly concerned when I mentioned that.

"What?  You think he's back?" I asked.

"There is really no way to know unless you see him with your own eyes. But, if he is, the Ministry will no doubt take away your Order of Merlin," Sirius stated, trying to get a little humor into the serious matter.

Being my daft self, I didn't catch the small bit of humor.  "I don't care about the stupid Order of Merlin!!"

"It was a joke, Harry."

I gave a huff of disproval and said, "There you go again.  Whenever I'm trying to discuss something serious with you, you always have to go and make a joke out of it!"

"Harry…"

"No!  No, I'm not putting up with this anymore!"

"Harry!"

I got out of my chair roughly, sending it falling back onto the floor as I walk out of the room and down to my bedroom.

~*~


	5. Author's Note

Just to let every one of my wonderful readers, I am taking a "leave of absence" until I can officially get back in the groove of going back to school.  Therefore, please do not expect too much from me.  I'm starting to work on a novel, non-HP related, and that is also taking up some of my time.  However, I should return before Halloween…eek!  Anyhoo, thank you for understanding.

Eowyn Black


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